Do you love freshginger and light refreshing desserts? Can you get your hands on a can of sweetened red bean paste and some glutinous rice flour from the local Chinese store? That’s all you need to make these amazingly delicious gluten-free red bean dumplings in just 20 minutes. You can add black or white sesame seeds to the mochi-like dough for extra taste and texture. I used to buy these typical Chinese dumplings frozen but homemade ones are so much better and not very sweet at all. So fast, so easy, so yummy! Plus the fresh ginger broth is delightfully refreshing and must be kind of heatlhy. 🙂

Red bean dumplings in ginger broth

This is a typical and very common Chinese or Asian dessert. I was fortunate to have my ex-flatmate from Shanghai and various Chinese friends making it during Chinese New Year and other festivals. I also recently found some in Barcelona, in an authentic Chinese restaurant complete with basic wooden stools and very low prices. Heavenly and delicious (the dumplings not the wooden stools).

They’re not quite the same with canned red bean paste but still not too sweet, tasty and very convenient. If you’ve never tried them I recommend you do. And if you’ve had Japanese mochi you’ll notice the dough is similar. Personally I love these dumplings’ soft slightly springy dough texture and the taste of the red bean paste, perfectly set against the slightly sweet zingy ginger broth. It must be because it’s gluten-free, what with the rice flour and all, but it feels really light on the stomach. So let’s make this super fast and amazing dessert!

Red bean dumplings in ginger broth

THE RECIPE

This is an adaptation of the lovely glutinous rice dessert dumplings in The Dumpling Sisters Cookbook. For my dumplings I had to use a little more water for the dough but less water in the ginger syrup. I also adapted the other quantities and tried white sesame seeds as well as black (the black seeds are attractive but the white ones are really tasty – both add a lovely subtle crunch).

As the Dumpling sisters say, you can play around with these dumplings and even use other fillings! I tried a few balls with Nutella and organic peanut butter but they were more delicate and didn’t marry as well with the ginger broth (aka syrup). The sweetened red bean paste I bought contains 60% red beans, sugar and water so it must be vegan (some brands contain animal fat apparently). It doesn’t taste too sweet but if you prefer there are many recipes online for homemade red bean paste.

Don’t worry if your balls are a bit messy and have very small cracks – they clean up in the boiling water. 🙂

Eating and storing

Wait 5-10 minutes before eating because the broth and balls will be very hot. If you have too many put extra balls in the freezer on baking paper on a tray for an hour until frozen then transfer to a plastic bag or airtight tupperware container. Boil from frozen (it probably takes a little longer – about 10-15 minutes).

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Baking on Sundays with my French mum was a lovely part of my childhood. Later I experimented with baking books or internet recipes and did the pâtisserie course at Le Cordon Bleu Paris. Still trying out new recipes and inventing cakes with influences from all around the world, including some healthier ones. Yes, love cakes!!! Hope you'll love them too and have fun baking. :)

Thank you Hilda! That’s very kind. This is my first bean paste dessert and I can see why you love the stuff. Must try to make a cake with it, and also make bean paste like you. Maybe you could tell me about a good recipe for it some time. 🙂

Lovely stuff you guys made from the blog!

A stunning Gâteau Moka by Kate in Cornwall. The piping is wonderful and she was very pleased with it. She also mentions the cake was delish! :)

Scrumptious orange & rum fruitcake-cake Anglais by Stéphanie in Tahiti ‘This cake is just delicious :) I brought one in the office today and it just vanished in a few minutes! Every one loved it :)’ she reports. Lovely local rum, vanilla, honey!

A delicious seed and nut loaf made by Claudette in London. She reports ‘cannot stop eating it … it is really delicious’ And she used more pumpkin than sunflower seeds and a little chestnut flour too.

A fantastic slice of Apple tarte tatin with Chinese 5 spices and Tamarind by Claudette, aka mum! :) It was very nice and using maple syrup is ‘genius’ she reports. The Pink Lady apples used were ‘lovely, juicy and firm’ and cooked on the ring a little over 10 mins. Plus the pastry browned quite quickly so was covered with foil towards the end.

Lovely brioche rolls made by Annette in New Zealand! ‘They turned out really well thanks, my boys certainly enjoyed them, all gone now!’ she reports. But be careful – she noticed that if you don’t use invert sugar or honey but just caster sugar, you’ll need to add a little extra water.

A fabulous Raspberry charlotte by Kate! Loads of raspberries and great sponge finger casing! The assembly part was actually really easy! and ‘it tasted amazing’ she says, adding it ‘will definitely become a regular pudding in our household!’

Yummy wholemeal spelt croissants by Dookes. Very well-shaped and nicely risen too! ‘For a first attempt I have to say I’m pretty pleased. They certainly pass the taste test’ says Dookes.

Extremely tasty-looking Lamingtons by Annette in New Zealand. Lovely and moist even without cream inside, she reports. So tempting piled up on that pretty plate. Yum!

A beautiful orange and rum fruitcake-cake Anglais fruitcake made by Dookes! Looks moist and delicious! Dookes’ comments: ‘seriously good!’ and ‘fantastico’!! You can find the guest post recipe at http://wp.me/p2sQo3-US And Dookes’ cake report is at https://hogriderdookes.wordpress.com/2015/03/18/lilis-biker-cake-made-and-tasted/ on his Hogrider Dookes blog.

What I made at the Cordon Bleu in Paris

Chocolate and pistachio bûche

Le Fraisier

Viennoiserie – croissants, brioches, pains au chocolat

Caramelised pear meringue pie

Gateau Mogador

Palmiers and Chaussons aux pommes

Plating a rapsberry and anis macaron with raspberry coulis and anis cream